Archive for September 2017

This important open letter to PM Trudeau signed by prominent Canadians has just been posted. It calls on Canada to immediately implement the CHRT and end inequities for all services for First Nations children and families. https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/justin-trudeau-open-letter-to-pm-give-first-nations-children-an-equal-chance/article36372720/ Please sign the…

KAIROS is proud to offer a reprint Indigenous Wisdom: Living in Harmony with Mother Earth. It was written by John Dillon, who died on June 5, 2017. Of all the writings he left behind, John was most proud of this…

“Everyone Belongs in the Kitchen” is a theme that raises a few questions. What kitchen? And, who is ‘everyone’? The phrase comes from a joke that exists in multiple memes online, which takes the tired sexist dismissal ‘Women belong in…

“You will now be placed on reserves,” Siobhan Rowan told the evening crowd assembled in East Lynn Park on Wednesday, Sept. 13, for Ward 32’s first ever Kitchi Blanket Exercise. The exercise teaches participants about Indigenous history and the effects…

Peace is often misunderstood as an absence, a state of tranquil stillness where nothing is happening, there’s no conflict or change. The world we live in isn’t like that, and seeking to enforce an ideal onto the world can itself…

Maps of Montreal, Canada, usually show the neighbouring Mohawk Nation as an empty space. It appears as a grey block, sectioned off from everything around it. Nothing could be more symbolic of the relationship between the Montreal urban community, which…

Matthew 18:21-35 Living in Scotland was my first time praying in ecumenical groups. You might imagine, despite theological differences, that we always had the Lord’s Prayer in common, but I encountered differences between the English and Scottish versions, especially the…

Seeds of Truth – stories from the KAIROS Guatemala Youth Exchange Op-ed: How we can start to walk the path of reconciliation? KAIROS Reconciliation in the Watershed Workshop Series Join us for Orange Shirt Day, September 30 Season of Creation…

The Orange Shirt Day movement began in Williams Lake, BC, in Spring 2013, but its legacy dates back to 1973 when 6 year-old Phyllis Webstad had her new orange shirt stripped off her back as soon as she arrived at St….

Role-playing activity helps participants learn about everything from treaties to residential schools Photo: Teachers at George Lee School in Regina, Sask., participate in The Blanket Exercise on Aug. 29. (Shelly Reed/Twitter) When it comes to Indigenous education in the classroom, Regina Public…

As part of the Canadian-Guatemalan Blanket Exercise Youth Exchange, I’ve spent the past 7 days learning from Indigenous leaders in Guatemala about their lived experiences. They have helped me to better understand the human rights violations that have occurred, and…

KAIROS is looking forward to hosting two South Sudanese women in Canada in late fall 2017 to share their fight against gender-based violence (GBV) as part of the No Mas II tour. The educational tour between November 24 and December…

Local residents invited to renew relationships with watershed & Indigenous peoples (Ottawa, ON) – Connecting the local ecology with Indigenous rights, and identifying ways to renew relationships with Indigenous peoples and the Tatamagouche watershed are some of the expected outcomes…

Searching for Indigenous, or Indigena (the Spanish word for Indigenous that is used in Guatemala) solutions for change is a task many revolutionaries have taken on across the world, and it can be complex. If you’re from Canada you will…

A friend was travelling across Western Canada and stopped at a service station to use the rest room. There he encountered a four year old boy washing his hands. The child studied my friend for a moment. “Are you a…

From September 1 to October 4, Christian churches around the globe will celebrate the Season of Creation through prayer and action. In 1989, September 1 was proclaimed as the World Day of Prayer for Creation by the Orthodox Church. Since…

OTTAWA OFFICE

KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives acknowledges that the Toronto office is on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, Seneca and Mississaugas of the New Credit Indigenous Peoples. The Ottawa office is on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Peoples.